Pinewood woman ready to ride

One of first in Colorado 500 ride

By Walt Hester and press release

Trail-Gazette

Posted:
07/30/2013 03:29:20 PM MDT

Motorcycle rider Letia Grosser is geared up and ready to ride. Grosser will be among the first five women allowed to ride the Colorado 500 Charity Invitational Dirt Bike Ride. (Walt Hester / Estes Park Trail-Gazette)

Letia Grosser holds her young grandchild, Carter, on Saturday. Grosser is a wife, mother, grandmother, as well as a fund raiser and dirtbike rider. (Walt Hester / Estes Park Trail-Gazette)

Pinewood Springs' Letia Grosser will join four other women, including her sister, as the first women invited to ride the annual Colorado 500 Charity Invitational Dirt Bike Ride.

"My husband bought a dirt bike for himself and our son and said 'you really aught to try it," explains Grosser. "I said, well that's kind of a crazy thing to do, but I tried it and since then, well, I love it."

The women will join the traditionally male race to help raise money for multiple small towns in need of services not covered under their city budgets.

Grosser is combining her physical strength and endurance with her passion for dirt bike riding to help others.

"I am honored to be asked to join such a worthy cause and blaze a trail for women who share my passion for the sport," said Grosser. "It will be one of the most physically challenging events, but knowing that I can make an impact will keep me going the 500 miles."

The challenges, however, went beyond purely physical ability.

"We ride with men and they offer absolutely no help," Grosser laughs. "So I ask 'How do you do this,' 'cause I didn't know anything. I rode for a year and didn't know I was supposed to put my clutch in to change gears."

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Grosser continues, "They put you on and tell you to gas it. You ask a question and they say, 'Just gas it'. That, and stay with it for as long as you can."

Grosser's sister, Laura Alton, from Richardson, Texas, will join her on the trails, as well as her husband. The sister team's goal is to raise $7,000 and partner with the three other women to designate their proceeds to small town women's shelters. The Colorado 500 Charity Fund benefits agencies that are often forgotten by other fund raising organizations. Since 1981, nearly $2 million has been distributed to nearly 150 organizations, including college scholarships, fire fighters, and search and rescue teams.

"When we found out about this ride over 500 miles through the mountains on dirt, rock and trails, we wanted to do it," explained Grosser. "We've been bugging them for about four years to let women in. Finally, they opened it up."

It's not the cheapest way to have fun. Grosser's bike ran $6,000 out of the show room. Since then, she has added a few thousand more to beef up her ride. But the activity is a family affair.

"Our whole family is into riding," Grosser says. "We all took to it."

Grosser hopes to continue riding for as long as she can. She's doing what she can to prolong her riding.

"I lift weights," says the tall, lean rider. "You not only have to ride it, you have to be able to pick it up."

Grosser says the most challenging part of riding is not the men's attitudes toward women. The hardest part is when she and the bike go down on a steep, rocky section. Then she has to pick the bike up, find traction and get going again.

The off-road event winds its way through Aspen, Crested Butte, Gunnison, Ouray, Silverton, Lake City, Basalt, and Telluride, covering over 500 miles during the 5-day event.